Mental Toughness in Athlete Students: The Predictive Role of Psychological Skills and The Investigation of the Relationship Between Them According to Some Variables

Year 2022, Volume: 41 Issue: 2, 639 - 658, 30.12.2022

Ömer Faruk Yazıcı Barış Mergan Mehmet Kargün

Abstract

Scientific realities show that mental toughness and psychological skills are very important for athletes to be psychologically well not only before the competition but also during and after the competition. Being able to continue the sports life at the same time while carrying out educational activities requires more mental toughness and psychological skills than usual. From this point of view, the research aims to determine the role of psychological skills in sports in the mental resilience of athletes who actively do sports and to analyse their relations with each other and with some variables. The study group of the research consists of 420 student-athletes (Avgage=21.96±3.20), 130 of them are females (31.0%) and 290 of them are males (69.0%), studying in the faculties of sports sciences. In the current study, “the Athletes' Psychological Skills Assessment Scale” and “The Mental Toughness Scale” was used. Descriptive statistics, T-Test, ANOVA and Multiple Linear Regression analysis were used for data analysis. In the research findings, it was detected that male athletes have a better ability to perform well under pressure and income status has an effect on getting rid of worries, goal setting and mental preparation. The mental toughness and psychological skills of those who slept 8 hours or less a day were higher than those who slept 8 hours or more. Similarly, it was concluded that athletes who have reading habits have higher mental toughness and psychological skills. Additionally, one of the important results of the research is also that improving concentration, being open to learning, the ability to cope with difficulties, confidence and success motivation, targeting and mental preparation skills, which are among the psychological skills of athletes, explain 44% of the total variance in mental toughness. It can be said that psychological skills have an important role in determining mental toughness.

Keywords

Mental toughness, psychological skills, Student, Athlete

References

• Akyol, H. (2012). Turkish teaching methods. Ankara: Pegem Academy Publishing.
• Azboy, O. & Kaygisiz Z. (2009). Effects of sleep deprivation on cardiores- piratory functions of the runners and volleyball players during rest and exercise. Acta Physiologica Hungarica, 96(1), 29-36. https://doi.org/10.1556/aphysiol.96.2009.1.3
• Birrer, D. & Morgan, G. (2010). Psychological skills training as a way to enhance an athlete's performance in highintensity sports. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 20, 78-87. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0838.2010.01188.x
• Boonstra, T.W., Stins, J.F., Daffertshofer, A. & Beek, J.P. (2007). Effects of sleep deprivation on neural functioning: an integrative review. Cell Mol Life Sci, 64(7-8), 934-946. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00018-007-6457-8
• Bull, S.J., Shambrook, C.J., James, W. & Brooks, J.E. (2005). Towards an understanding of mental toughness in elite English cricketers. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 17(3), 209–227. https://doi.org/10.1080/10413200591010085
• Çağlar, G. (2021). Investigation of psychological skills and anxiety levels of Caucasian folk dance athletes. Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Kafkas University, Kars.
• Clough, P., Earle, K., Sewell, D. & Cockerill, I. (2002). Solutions in sport psychology. London: Thomson.
• Coşkun, A.G.E. (2003). Effective reading skills of high school students according to various variables and some suggestions. Turkology Studies, (13), 101.
• Cox, R.H. (2012). Sport Psychology, Concepts and Applications. New York: McGraw-Hill.
• Crust, L. & Azadi, K. (2010). Mental toughness and athletes use of psychologicalstrategies. European Journal of Sport Science, 10(1), 43–51. https://doi.org/10.1080/17461390903049972
• Crust, L. (2008). A review and conceptual reexamination of mental toughness: Implications for future researchers. Personality and Individual Differences, 45(7), 576-583. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2008.07.005
• Crust, L. & Clough, P.J. (2011). Developing Mental Toughness: from Research to Practice. Journal of Sport Psychology in Action, 2(1), 21-32. https://doi.org/10.1080/21520704.2011.563436
• Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. New York: Harper Collins.
• Day, R.R. & Park, J. (2005). Developing reading comprehension questions. Reading in a Foreign Language, 17(1), 60-73.
• Dede, Y. E. (2019). Examining the mental toughness of elite wrestlers. Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Aydın Adnan Menderes University, Aydın.
• Demir, P. & Çelebi, M. (2019). Investigation of mental endurance of struggle athletes trained at faculty of sport sciences. International Journal of Contemporary Educational Research, 5(2), 188-199.
• Ekmekçi, R. & Miçooğulları, B.O. (2018). Examination and comparison of psychological characteristics of American football players and handball players. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 6(11), 2420-2425. https://doi.org/10.13189/ujer.2018.061104
• Erdoğan, N. (2016). Mental Resilience Scale (MRS): Turkish adaptation, validity and reliability study. International Journal of Sport Culture and Science, 4(2), 652-664.
• Erhan, S.E., Bedir, D., Bedir, F., Güler, M.Ş. & Öztaşyonar, Y. (2016). Psychological Skills Analysis of Students Studying at Ataturk University Faculty of Sports Science. International Journal of Sport Studies, 6(11), 667-675.
• Erhan S.E., Bedir, D., Güler, M.Ş. & Ağduman, F. (2015). Turkish validity and reliability study of the psychological skills assessment scale of athletes. Journal of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, 17(1), 59-71.
• Fraenkel, J.R., Wallen, N.E. & Hyun, H.H. (2011). How to design and evaluate research in education. New York: McGraw-Hill Humanities.
• Geçgel, H. & Burgul, F. (2009). Reading interests of the students of the faculty of education (Çanakkale example). TÜBAV Bilim Dergisi, 2(3), 341-353.
• Gorman AD, Abernethy B. & Farrow D. (2015). Evidence of different underlying processes in pattern recall and decision-making. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. 68(9), 1813-1831. https://doi.org/10.1080/17470218.2014.992797
• Goldberg, A.S. (1992). Training the psychological dimension. Soccer Journal, 37(1), 58-60.
• Gould, D., Hodge, K., Peterson, K. & Petlichkoff, L. (1987). Psychological foundations of coaching: Similarities and differences among intercollegiate wrestling coaches. The Sport Psychologist, 1(4), 293–308. https://doi.org/10.1123/tsp.1.4.293
• Gould, D., Greenleaf, C., Chung, Y., & Guinan, D. (2002). A survey of U.S. Atlanta and Nagano Olympians: Factors influencing performance. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 73(3), 175-186. https://doi.org/10.1080/02701367.2002.10609006
• Gucciardi, D.F. & Gordon, S. (2009). Development and preliminary validation of the cricket mental toughness inventory (CMTI). Journal of Sports Sciences, 27(12), 1293-1310. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640410903242306
• Gucciardi, D.F., Hanton, S., Gordon, S., Mallet, J.C. & Temby, P. (2015). The concept of mental toughness: Tests of dimensionality, nomological network, and traitness. Journal of Personality, 83(1), 26-44.
• Güler, M.Ş. (2015). Evaluation of mental abilities of individuals who do sports in different branches. Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Atatürk University, Erzurum.
• Günaydın, N. (2014). The effect of nurses working in a state hospital on sleep quality and general mental state. Journal of Psychiatric Nursing, 5(1),33-40. https://doi.org/10.5505/phd.2014.63935
• Güngörmüş, K., Okanlı, A. & Kocabeyoğlu, T. (2015). Psychological resilience of nursing students and influencing factors. Journal of Psychiatric Nursing, 6(1), 9-14. https://doi.org/10.5505/phd.2015.80299
• Güven, M.A. (2022). Examining the mental endurance of tennis players and their continuous self-confidence levels in sports. Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Ondokuz Mayıs University, Samsun.
• Güvendi, B., Can, H.C. & Türksoy Işım, A. (2020). Investigation of the relationship between the mental toughness of triathlon athletes and their decision-making styles. International Journal of Contemporary Educational Research, 6(1), 146-160.
• Güvendi, Y. (2020). The relationship between the psychological skills of national wrestlers and their burnout levels. Unpublished Master’s Thesis, İstanbul Gelişim University, İstanbul.
• Jones, G. (2002). What is this thing called mental toughness? An investigation of elite sport performers. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 14(3), 205-218. https://doi.org/10.1080/10413200290103509
• Jones, G., Hanton, S. & Connaughton, D. (2007). A framework of mental toughness in the world’s best performers. The Sport Psychologist, 21(2), 243-264. https://doi.org/10.1123/tsp.21.2.243
• Kalkavan, A., Acet, M. & Çakır G. (2017). Investigation of the mental endurance levels of the athletes participating in the table tennis championship of universities in Turkey. International Journal of Science Culture and Sport, 5(4), 356-363.
• Kılınç, Z. & Gürer, B. (2019). The effect of basic psychological needs of outdoor sports on mental resilience. CBU Journal of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, 14(2), 222-233. https://doi.org/10.33459/cbubesbd.576242
• Konter, E. (1998). Theory and practice of psychological preparation in sport. Ankara: Bağırgan.
• Kurulgan, M. & Çekerol, G.S. (2008). A research on students' reading and library usage habits. Anadolu University Journal of Social Sciences, 8(2), 237–258.
• Luke, A., Lazaro, R.M., Bergeron, M.F., Keyser, L., Benjamin, H., Brenner, J., d’ Hemecourt, P., Grady, M., Philpott, J. & Smith, A. (2011). Sports-related injuries in youth athletes: is over- scheduling a risk factor? Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine, 21(4), 307-314. https://doi.org/10.1097/JSM.0b013e3182218f71
• Luthans, F. (2002). Positive organizational behavior: Developing and managing psychological strengths. Academy of Management Perspectives, 16(1), 57-72. https://doi.org/10.5465/ame.2002.6640181
• Madigan, D.J. & Nicholls, A.R. (2017). Mental toughness and burnout in junior athletes: a longitudinal investigation. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 32(2017), 138-142. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2017.07.002
• Madrigal, L., Hamill, S. & Gill, D.L. (2013). Mind over matter: The development of the mental toughness scale (MTS). Sport Psychologist, 27(1): 62-77.
• Masum, R. (2014). A mixed method analysis of mental toughness in elite and sub-elite male and female tennis players in Pakistan. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 1(6),110-122.
• Menteş, G. & Saygın, Ö. (2019). Investigation of mental endurance and cognitive flexibility of athletes engaged in e-sports and traditional sports. International Journal of Sport Exercise and Training Sciences-IJSETS, 5(4), 238-250. https://doi.org/10.18826/useeabd.639062
• Murphy, S. (2009). The sport psych handbook. USA: Human Kinetics.
• Neff, R. (2022). Mental skills. Retriwed from, www.mentaltraininginc.com. Date of access (17.09.2022).
• Nergiz, S., Bayköse, N. & Yıldız, M. (2015). Talking to yourself: conversational situations of individuals performing modern and folk dances. Journal of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, 9(9), 40-49.
• Nicholls, A.R., Polman, R.C., Levy, A.R., & Backhouse, S.H. (2009). Mental toughness in sport: Achievement level, gender, age, experience, and sport type differences. Personality and Individual Differences, 47(1), 73-75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2009.02.006
• Pehlivan, H. (2014). Adaptation of mental toughness scale in sports: Validity and reliability study. Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Manisa Celal Bayar University, Manisa.
• Roth, T., Jaeger, S. & Jin, R. (2006). Sleep problems, comorbid mental disorders, and role functioning in the national comorbidity survey replication (NCS-R). Biological Psychiatry, 60(12), 1364-1371. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2006.05.039
• Sarı, İ., Sağ, S. & Pınar Demir, A. (2020). Mental toughness in sport: a review in taekwondo athletes. Journal of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, 22(4), 131-147.
• Sheard, M. (2012). Mental toughness: The mindset behind sporting achievement. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203103548
• Simpson, N., Gibbs, E. & Matheson, G. (2016). Optimizing sleep to maximize performance: implications and recommendations for elite athletes. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 27(3), 266-274. https://doi.org/10.1111/sms.12703
• Smith, R.E., Schutz, R.W., Smoll, F.L. & Ptacek, J.T. (1995). Development and validation of a multidimensional measure of sport -specific psychological skills: The athletic coping skills ınventory-28. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 17(4), 379-398. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsep.17.4.379
• Şahinler, Y. & Ersoy, A. (2019). Examination of mental endurance of athletes according to different variables. International Journal of Social Sciences and Education Research, 5(2), 168-177. https://doi.org/10.24289/ijsser.558658
• Tabachnick, B.G. & Fidell, L.S. (2013). Using multivariate statistics. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
• Tekkurşun-Demir, G. & Türkeli, A. (2019). Examination of exercise addiction and mental endurance levels of sports science faculty students. Journal of Sport Sciences Research, 4(1), 10-24. https://doi.org/10.25307/jssr.505941
• Thelwell, R., Weston, N. & Greenlees, I. (2005). Defining and understanding mental toughness within soccer. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 17(4), 326-332. https://doi.org/10.1080/10413200500313636
• Uçar, U. & Kaplan, T. (2020). Investigation of mental toughness in Konya amateur league football players. Journal of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, 14(2), 145-157.
• Ünalan, Ş. (2006). Turkish Teaching. Ankara: Nobel Publication Distribution.
• Urfa, O. & Aşçı, F.H. (2018). The effect of a 10-week psychological skill training program on anxiety, self-confidence, motivation, attention and shot hit rate of young football players. Journal of Sport Sciences, 29(3), 131-146. https://doi.org/10.17644/sbd.313892
• Vetter, R.E. & Symonds, M.L. (2010). Correlations between injury, training intensity, and physical and mental exhaustion among college athletes. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 24(3), 587-596. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181c7c2eb
• Weinberg, R.S. & Gould, D. (2015). Introduction to Psychological Skills Training. In Gould D, Weinberg RS (Eds), Foundations of Sport and Exercise Psychology. Human Kinetics, Champaign.
• Wright, J.K.P., Hull, J.T., Hughes, R.J., Ronda, J.M. & Czeisler, C.A. (2006). Sleep and wakefulness out of phase with internal biological time impairs learning in humans. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 18(4), 508-521. https://doi.org/10.1162/jocn.2006.18.4.508
• Yıldız, M.E. & Erhan, S.E. (2019). Examination of the psychological skills of athletes engaged in winter sports. International Journal of Exercise Psychology, 1(1), 24-32.
• Yılmaz, D.E. (2010). Nursing students' critical thinking levels and attitudes towards reading habits. Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Hacettepe University, Ankara.